Erma Ripley

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Mom was admitted to Spring Hill Memorial Hospital in North Little Rock on October 20th with Pneumonia. By Saturday, October 28th her condition was much worse and the decision was made to move her into ICU. After being moved to ICU, she was placed on a Bi-Pap mask to assist her with her airflow as she was struggling to get enough oxygen. By late Sunday afternoon, we were told that she was not improving and that the oxygen was at 100% and her O2 levels were continuing to drop. On Monday morning, October 30th, Mom agreed to be placed on a ventilator as her best hope for survival. Today, November 1st finds mom still on the ventilator with very little change since Monday. Her doctor and her nurses have emphasized that she needs as much rest as possible to give her lungs a chance to heal. This morning, we were told that unfortunately, the opaque cloudiness in her lungs is not fluid and that they are leaning toward ARDS - a complication that can arise from severe pneumonia. We do not know how long she will be on the ventilator. While on the ventilator, they are continuing to give her all her medications and are feeding her through a tube. She is also mildly sedated as they had to intubate her. Everyone at the hospital is giving her excellent care. The family has all come together and is spending most of our waiting time in the ICU.

Dad, Judy, Richard, Dawn, Scott and our extended families are soliciting your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We ask that you take a moment to leave messages for us to read to mom when she gets better. We ask that you check this site frequently for updates, as email updates are very difficult to maintain. We ask that if you do come to visit, that you visit quietly and to not try to wake her as sleep is her strongest ally at this time. Only 2 people at a time in her room, please. Please check and see if we are in the ICU waiting room first before going to the room. Her room number is 132. But most of all, we ask that you PRAY for her healing.

Thank you for the love and caring you have provided for us so far as we continue on this difficult journey.